In his talk Rafe Courage will present the British perspective on Europe and relations with Germany now and after Brexit and British objectives for the negotiation period and beyond.

Rafe Courage, the Patron of the DBG Düsseldorf, became HM Consul General, Düsseldorf, in July 2017. Prior to that he was Deputy Consul-General and Head, Turkey Economic & Prosperity Team, in the British Consulate-General in Istanbul. Previous positions include First Secretary, Team Leader (Internal Communications in the Communications Directorate, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London), a Secondment to the UK Border Agency, the role of Consul (Trade & Investment) in the British Consulate-General in Chicago/USA, a prior role in Turkey as Second Secretary (Economic & Commercial) in the British Embassy in Ankara, the role of Third Secretary in the British High Commission in Islamabad/Pakistan, and a similar role in the British Embassy in Brussels.

He has been in Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service since 1986 after an Honours Degree, Bachelor of Science (Economics) in European Community Studies with German & French at Cardiff University.

Rafe is married to Theresa, a primary school teacher. They have four adult children. Rafe’s interests include foreign languages, travel, running and gardening.